Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
EA versus sham acupuncture and no acupuncture for the control of acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: a pilot study.
To assess the feasibility of undertaking a high-quality randomised controlled study to determine whether EA gives better control of delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) than sham EA or standard antiemetic treatment alone. ⋯ It was feasible to undertake a randomised EA trial on a busy day oncology unit. As few patients experienced nausea with their first cycle of chemotherapy, it was not possible to determine whether EA improves CINV over standard care. An enriched enrolment strategy is indicated for future studies. A simple numerical rating scale may prove a better objective nausea measure than the FLIE.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Discrimination accuracy between real and sham press needles in the hands.
To evaluate the blinding effectiveness of a modified blunt sham press needle on the basis of the ability of subjects to discriminate between real and sham acupuncture needles compared with their discrimination ability based on pure guessing, and to define differences between senses (touch and vision) in the rates of correctly identified needles. ⋯ The findings from this study show that this sham acupuncture device successfully blinded subjects to real and sham press needles, suggesting that it is effective for subject blinding in studies on acupuncture using press needles, and facilitating evaluation of the effects of acupuncture in placebo-controlled trials using a rigorous scientific research methodology.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Acupuncture versus usual care for postoperative nausea and vomiting in children after tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy: a pragmatic, multicentre, double-blinded, randomised trial.
To investigate the effect of a standardised acupuncture on nausea and vomiting in children after tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy when possible placebo effects were precluded. ⋯ The findings suggest that when controlling for possible placebo effects standardised PC6 acupuncture needling during anaesthesia without further stimulation of PC6 is not effective in reducing nausea and vomiting in children after tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy. Future studies should investigate acupuncture treatment which balances adequate dose and technique and a feasible, child-friendly acupuncture treatment.
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This paper reports a rare iatrogenic complication of acupuncture-induced haemothorax and comments on the importance and need for special education of physicians and physiotherapists in order to apply safe and effective acupuncture treatment. A 37-year-old healthy woman had a session of acupuncture treatments for neck and right upper thoracic non-specific musculoskeletal pain, after which she gradually developed dyspnoea and chest discomfort. After some delay while trying other treatment, she was eventually transferred to the emergency department where a chest X-ray revealed a right pneumothorax and fluid collection. ⋯ The patient recovered completely and was discharged after 9 days of hospitalisation. When dyspnoea, chest pain and discomfort occur during or after an acupuncture treatment, the possibility of secondary (traumatic) pneumo- or haemopneumothorax should be considered and the patient should remain under careful observation (watchful waiting) for at least 48 h. To maximise the safety of acupuncture, specific training should be given for the safe use of acupuncture points of the anterior and posterior thoracic wall using dry needling, trigger point acupuncture or other advanced acupuncture techniques.